Seminar: Advanced Topics in Economics and Computation
| Lecturer: | Prof. Dr. Sven Seuken |
| Teaching Assistants: | Mike Shann, Timo Mennle |
| Teaching Language | English |
| Level | BSc, MSc |
| Academic Semester | Fall 2013 |
| Time and Location |
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| AP (ECTS): | 3 (including a mark) |
| Office Hours | Send email for appointments. |
News
- 29.10.2013: The Seminar Guidline and LaTeX-Template for your seminar papers have are available on OLAT.
- 17.9.2013: Interested students must register with OLAT by enrolling for "BINFS145/MINFS545: Seminar Advanced Topics in Economics and Computation". This will also grant access to course materials and you will receive all course-related communication.
- 9.9.2013: Slides with descriptions of topics will be made available after the kick-off meeting.
- 8.8.2013: New time for kick-off meeting: Sep 18th, 12:15-13:45.
- 10.7.2013: Class website goes live.
Tentative Schedule
| Date | Time, Room | Topic |
| Sep 18 | 12:15-13:45, BIN 2.A.01 | Kick-off Meeting |
| Sep 19 | at latest by midnight | Send preference list via email |
| Sep 20 | Assignment of topics (via a strategyproof mechanism) | |
| ~ Oct 21 | By appointment | Q&A: Seminar Topic, Paper Structure (Optional) |
| ~ Nov 5 | By appointment | Review and Discussion of Draft (Optional) |
| Nov 17 | at latest by midnight | Paper submission |
| Nov 18 | Review period starts | |
| Nov 24 | at latest by midnight | Review period ends: submit your reviews |
| Nov 25 | Reviews sent to authors | |
| Dec 2 | at latest by midnight | Final paper submission |
| ~ Dec 9 | By appointment | Review and discussion of presentation (Optional) |
| Dec 13 | 13:00-17:30, BIN 2.A.10 | Presentation day 1 |
| Dec 14 | 11:00-15:00, BIN 2.A.01 | Presentation day 2 (if needed) |
List of possible Topics for Seminar Papers (subject to change)
- Bidding Languages and Winner Determination in Combinatorial Auctions
- Core-selecting Combinatorial Auctions
- Matching in the School Choice Market
- (Two-sided) Labor and Marriage Matching Markets
- Manipulative Behavior in Matching Markets
- Computational Social Choice
- Prediction Markets
- Crowdsourcing and Online Behavioral Experiments
- Market User Interface Design
- Recommender Systems
- Reputation Systems
- Electronic Currencies
- The Smart Grid Market
- Online Mechanism Design for Electric Vehicle Charging
- Networks and Economics
- Virtual Economies
Course Content
In this seminar, we will discuss advanced topics in economics and computation (list of topics will be made available in the kick-off meeting). Students independently write a 15-page paper, review two other papers, give a presentation (20 min.) on the topic of their paper, and lead a short discussion (10 min.) following their presentation.
Teaching Format and Setup
The seminar will be held as a “Block-Seminar”. The kick-off meeting will likely be on Wednesday, 18.09.2013. After that date, students can report which topics they prefer and in which order, and we will then assign topics to students accordingly. We will have one or two longer seminar days at the end of the semester for student presentations (exact date and time tbd).
Prerequisites
Successful completion of the course "Economics and Computation" or explicit consent from the instructor. Students who have not taken "Economics and Computation" but have enough background in relevant areas (e.g., microeconomics, game theory, multi-agent systems, auction theory, or mechanism design) may also be eligible to participate, but should contact the instructor ahead of time.
Target Audience
Suitable for all BSc and MSc students who have successfully completed the course "Economics and Computation", or who have obtained similar background knowledge elsewhere. Specifically recommended for students thinking about writing their BSc or MSc thesis on a topic related to Economics and Computation.
Teaching/Learning Goals
- Developing a deep understanding of advanced topics in economics and computation.
- Conducting a literature review.
- Being able to independently read research papers on economics and computation.
- Being able to critically evaluate and discuss research papers and identify open research problems.
- Reviewing other people's research papers.
- Writing a technical paper on a clearly defined subject.
- Holding an oral presentation about a topic and leading a discussion.
Examination
1. Final paper (15 pages, LNCS format).
2. Reviewing two other papers.
3. Oral presentation of the paper (using slides) + leading a discussion.
4. Active participation during the seminar.
Grading
- Final paper: 50%
- Presentation: 30%
- Reviews: 10%
- Seminar participation: 10%